Comet C/2017 E4 Lovejoy: an image (24 Apr. 2017)

Comet C/2017 E4 Lovejoy was imaged again, the day after its perihelion. It continues to fade, while dissolving, also being more difficult to see, because of the decreasing solar elongation.

Comet C/2017 E4 Lovejoy : 24 Apr. 2017

The image above comes from the average of fourthenn, 60-seconds exposures, unfiltered, remotely taken with the 16″-f/3.75 Tenagra III (“Pearl”) robotic unit part of Tenagra Observatories in Arizona. The telescope tracked the apparent motion of the comet. The imaging camera is based on the KAF-16801 CCD, used in 2×2 binning. The resulting image scale is 2.4″/pixel. The comet was VERY low above the NE horizon, at about 6 degrees, after the beginning of the morning twilight.

The observatory hosting the telescope is placed at 1300 meters above the sea level, in the Sonoran desert, providing one of the best skies in the world. This image is the first one coming from a cooperation between the Virtual Telescope Project and Tenagra Observatories, Ltd., which will be announced soon.

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